NEW YORK — How much scandal is too much scandal?
With billions of dollars at stake and few other ways to tap into the global love of soccer, FIFA sponsors like Adidas, Coke and McDonald’s are likely to hang onto their marketing deals and try to weather the scandal that has tarnished soccer’s governing body.
It would seem like an advertiser’s worst nightmare: More than a dozen soccer officials indicted in an investigation into decades of corruption and fraud. Some are even on Interpol’s global “most wanted” list. There’s no sign the revelations are ending.
But no FIFA sponsors have jumped ship. They’ve issued sternly worded public statements and called for change — some of which may have started when FIFA chief Sepp Blatter said Tuesday he would resign.
Whether the next two World Cups will be in Russia and Qatar as scheduled, or elsewhere, sponsors will still want to be there, said Rick Burton, a professor of sport management at Syracuse University.
“By the time we get to 2018, this will be in the rearview mirror,” said Burton who has also served as chief marketing officer for the U.S. Olympic Committee. “By 2018 McDonald’s is still going to want to sell cheeseburgers in all the countries of the world, and they know everyone in the world will be watching the World Cup.”
